If a person believes in the Bible, then a person must also believe that governments are satanic. They are satanic in that they are controlled and ruled by Satan. How can I make such an outlandish and bold claim? Well, I don’t have to. The Gospel According to Luke made that claim nearly two thousand years ago. I’m just repeating it.

Luke’s Gospel says:

The devil lifted Jesus up and in a split second showed him all the kingdoms in the world. The devil said to him, “I’ll give you all the authority and glory that these kingdoms have to offer. They’ve been given to me and I can give them to whomever I choose. If you just bow down and worship me, then all these kingdoms will be yours.” (Luke 4:5-7, The New Peace Treaty translation)

In this passage, the Bible clearly teaches that all the governments of the world are owned and operated by Satan.

Someone will protest and say that the devil is a liar; therefore, what he says in this passage must not be true. That would be a valid point except for one simple point of fact: the devil is in the process of tempting Jesus–if what the devil is saying is a lie, then it’s not a temptation. A person cannot be tempted by what they know is not true. If I were to say to you, “Kill my wife and I’ll give you title to the State of New Jersey,” there would be no temptation to kill my wife–unless you happen to be a homicidal maniac who just wants to kill people. I don’t own the State of New Jersey and everybody knows it–in fact, I own very little within the State of New Jersey. So if I were to offer New Jersey as the price I’m willing to pay to get you to perform some action, you would feel no temptation at all because I’m unable to back up what I say.

It would be like if I walked into a bar and noticed a really hot woman. If I were to say to her “I’ll give you a million dollars if you sleep with me,” she would want some sort of proof that I can back up my statement. If I pull out my current bank statement and it shows that my account is overdrawn, then there is no temptation. She knows that I can’t back up what I’m saying, so she won’t be even slightly tempted to sleep with me. But suppose my bank statement shows that I am a multi-billionaire. Suddenly she knows I can back up my statement. She’ll think the offer over for a while. She may still say no, but she’ll be tempted. Why? Because I can back up my offer. So, for Satan to tempt Jesus in this scene, Jesus must know that what Satan is saying is true. All the governments of the world are Satan’s to control and he can give them to whomever he chooses. Apparently, the devil can back up his claim and Jesus knows it.

What does all this mean? It means that government–all government–is satanic and that everyone involved in government has given themselves over to worshiping the devil. If this offends you, then don’t take it up with me, take it up with the Bible.

How does one get elected to office in the United States? One buys it. The person who raises the most money in either party will get the nomination for that party. The person who raises the most money for the general election wins that election. That is the way of things. We can pretend that the voters have a choice, but the choice is determined for them by corporations who have bought and sold the candidates and present them to the American people. We like to pretend that we live in a democracy, but what we really live in is a plutocratic-oligarchy in which a few hyper-wealthy corporations control politics through the political personalities who are willing to whore themselves out for a taste of political power. If that offends you, don’t take it up with me, take it up with reality.

What does Jesus say is the root of all evil? The love of money. The one thing all politicians have in common, regardless of political affiliation, is the love of money. Every single on of them knows that money is power–and one of it’s powers is to buy political office. And in so-called democracies like the United States, there is a two party system: incumbents and those who want to be; or to put it another way, those who have office and those who want office. That’s the true two-party system. Those who have office will do and say whatever it takes to keep it; those who want office will do and say whatever it takes to get it. That’s it. That the political system. All other political labels that are employed are merely distractions and wrapping paper and pretty bows. The reality is that every single person running for office is just turning tricks for some “John” of a corporation. If that offends you, don’t take it up with me, take it up with politics.

But back to the temptation scene. Why would Satan tempt Jesus with political power? The devil knows that regardless of how good Jesus may be, political power will change him and make him more and more like the devil, until he becomes worse than the devil ever was. It’s like in the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, when Frodo offers Gandolf the ring, Gandolf refuses saying that he would attempt to use the ring for good, but it would ultimately twist his good and make him evil. That’s the nature of political power and the nature of government. I’m sure that there were a lot of politicians who originally got into politics for all the right reasons, but once inside, those reasons were murdered or perverted. They were transformed from good people trying to do the right thing into morally questionable people trying to get re-elected, their values and convictions are continually auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Which I guess, brings me to the nature of evil. Evil in this world is never like evil in comic books or Star Wars where someone makes a decision to be evil. Evil happens to a person a piece at a time. If evil really looked like someone saying, “Today I’m going to be bad, and take over the world and make people suffer,” it would be easy to spot and easy to crush. But evil never looks like that. Evil in this world always masquerades itself as seemingly good people trying to do the right thing. That’s how evil flourishes. What makes them evil is when they start deciding that they can take short cuts along the path to the good they want. They let the ends justify the means.

A world without terrorism is a good worth pursuing. Democracy in the Middle East is a good worth pursuing. But the steps that are taken in the pursuit of these goals determine whether the architects of such a policy are good or evil.

So what was Jesus’ response to the devil when confronted with such a temptation?

Then Jesus said to him, “The Bible says ‘Worship the Lord your God and only serve him!’”

If participation in politics is satanic and will only serve to pervert and destroy the good that good for which good people are working, then good people must avoid the temptation of getting involved in politics. The way that good people change the world is by changing themselves, by being determined to do what’s right even if it isn’t politically expedient or politically safe. Jesus denied Satan’s offer and finished up on a cross. Look throughout the long line of human history and examine the fates of those who decided to stand against the demonically possessed governments of their times. Everything they got can be yours if you just refuse to bow down and worship the devil.

We today basically have the same choice that Jesus had two thousand years ago: we can bend out knee to Satan and serve him through corrupt political means; or we can deny Satan, pick up our crosses, and serve God. But we can’t do both. And the world we live in reflects our choice.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW

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